CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Cordarius Johnson and Raheem Appleby combined for 31 points and the Louisiana Tech (2-1) defense hassled Troy (1-2) from the tipoff to the final horn as the Bulldogs came away with the 70-46 win in the first day of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic at McKenzie Arena.

The victory gave LA Tech the 1-0 series lead over Troy since this was the first time in the `Dogs 84 seasons that they have played the Sun Belt member on the hardwood.

"It was a really good defensive effort," said head coach Michael White. "I thought we really defended the glass, as good as we have all year. Our energy level on that end was tremendous. We executed pretty well offensively and we finally made some jump shots."

Going into halftime, the Bulldogs held a 39-18 advantage, marking the first time LA Tech has held an opponent to that many points in a half since Nov. 22, 2009 when they held Nicholls State to the same total.

The pressuring LA Tech defense carried over into the second half as Troy would not make their first basket until the 14:45 mark and breaking the 20-point barrier.

Guard Brandon Gibson also checked in with nine points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Bulldogs who had a 42-30 advantage on the glass.

Troy came into the game shooting 38% from three-point range but were held to just 5-of-20 shooting from beyond the arc for 25%.

Three of those threes came from Westley Hinton who came off the bench to lead the Trojans in scoring with 12 points.

"I thought our sense of urgency and our awareness was really good along those lines," said White. "They hit a couple late. They had a kid come off the bench that hit three against us. But overall, 5-of-20, I thought we really took care of the biggest key to the game for us defensively and that was defending that three-point line."

In less than 24 hours, the Bulldogs will play the second game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic when they take on Southeast Missouri State at 3:30 CT on Monday. That game can be heard live on the LA Tech Sports Network, including KXKZ 107.5 FM -Ruston, KJVC 92.7 FM - Mansfield and KTKC 92.9 - Springhill.

For complete coverage of LA Tech men's basketball, please follow @LATechHoops on Twitter where you can get in-game updates or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at www.LATechSports.com.